Cost of living comparison

Japan

compared to

United States

New Orleans vs. Tokyo Cost of Living Summary

New Orleans is 41.3% more expensive than Tokyo.

Restaurants: pay 2.7 times more in New Orleans
Groceries: pay 27.4% more in New Orleans
Transportation: pay 0.8% less in New Orleans
Housing: pay 64.3% more in New Orleans
Childcare: pay 19.2% less in New Orleans
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.9% more in New Orleans
Clothing: pay 32.3% more in New Orleans

The cost of restaurants, housing, clothing, groceries, and entertainment and sports in New Orleans are more expensive than in Tokyo. Expenses including childcare and transportation are lower in New Orleans. Notably, restaurants is significantly more expensive in New Orleans.

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New Orleans vs. Tokyo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in New Orleans instead of Tokyo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.7 times more for restaurants

	Tokyo	New Orleans
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.59 ¥1,196	$26.00	+242.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.06 ¥798	$12.00	+137.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.64 ¥258	$2.92	+78.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 ¥140	$2.17	+145.3%
Average			+172.8%

Tokyo vs. New Orleans - Cost of restaurants

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pay 27.4% more for groceries

	Tokyo	New Orleans
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 ¥269	$4.14	+142.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.29 ¥834	$7.78	+47.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.75 ¥906	$5.14	-10.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.26 ¥357	$5.38	+137.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.08 ¥485	$4.61	+49.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.15 ¥339	$2.36	+9.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.07 ¥169	$0.74	-30.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.96 ¥308	$2.42	+23.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.39 ¥376	$2.53	+5.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.53 ¥241	$1.96	+28.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.46 ¥230	$1.46	-0.2%
Average			+27.4%

Tokyo vs. New Orleans - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.8% less for transportation

	Tokyo	New Orleans
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.08 ¥643	$3.68	-9.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$63.27 ¥9,969	$50.00	-21.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,725.38 ¥3M	$35,578.00	+63.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$28.47 ¥4,486	$15.43	-45.8%
Average			-0.8%

Tokyo vs. New Orleans - Cost of transportation

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pay 64.3% more for housing

	Tokyo	New Orleans
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.33 ¥4,780	$73.58	+142.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,280.34 ¥202K	$1,852.50	+44.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$692.48 ¥109K	$1,197.78	+73.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$113.45 ¥17,877	$200.34	+76.6%
Average			+64.3%

Tokyo vs. New Orleans - Cost of housing

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pay 19.2% less for childcare

	Tokyo	New Orleans
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,341.43 ¥211K	$1,563.89	+16.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$18,252.10 ¥3M	$10,230.00	-44.0%
Average			-19.2%

Tokyo vs. New Orleans - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Tokyo	New Orleans
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.80 ¥598	$6.00	+58.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.56 ¥562	$5.43	+52.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.92 ¥618	$9.00	+129.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.31 ¥10,449	$51.00	-23.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.65 ¥1,994	$12.50	-1.2%
Average			+20.9%

Tokyo vs. New Orleans - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 32.3% more for clothing

	Tokyo	New Orleans
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$55.50 ¥8,746	$57.25	+3.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.95 ¥5,192	$43.07	+30.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$65.04 ¥10,250	$86.80	+33.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.74 ¥11,148	$120.31	+70.1%
Average			+32.3%

Tokyo vs. New Orleans - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this

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Size Comparison · See true size

Tokyo is about 1.4 times bigger than New Orleans.

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